The Sistine Chapel exhibit in downtown Houston is nice,...

2of 6A group of homeschool students and parents look at “Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel: The Exhibition,” a show of life-size photo-reproductions of the ceiling frescoes of the Sistine Chapel, at the Corinthian.Photo: Jon Shapley, Houston Chronicle / Houston Chronicle

3of 6Anna Estes, 8, left, and her sister Maddie, 8, looks up at reproductions of the ceiling frescos from the Sistine Chapel, on display at the Corinthian.Photo: Jon Shapley, Houston Chronicle / Houston Chronicle

4of 6Everett Whiles, 7, listens to a presentation about the ceiling frescoes of the Sistine Chapel, during a preview event showing reproductions at the Corinthian.Photo: Jon Shapley, Houston Chronicle / Houston Chronicle

6of 6A group of homeschool students and parents listen to Martin Biallas talk about “Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel: The Exhibition,” a show of life-size photo-reproductions of the ceiling frescoes of the Sistine Chapel, at the Corinthian.Photo: Jon Shapley, Houston Chronicle / Houston Chronicle

Let’s make it clear from the get-go: The life-size photo reproductions of frescoes from the Sistine Chapel, on view through July at the Corinthian event space downtown, are not art. They are displays that offer lessons on art history and stories from the Bible.

Producer Martin Biallas said almost as much to kids and parents from Sugar Creek Christian Home Educators during a preview the day before Friday’s public opening, as the panels were still being installed.

Biallas told a reporter he was compelled to create this show after visiting the Sistine Chapel five years ago. “It was stuffy, noisy and they push you through in 20 minutes,” he explained. “And the frescoes are so far away they look like postage stamps.”

He wanted to offer an experience where people could gain a better sense of the frescoes life size, close-up, in pleasant surroundings with no time limit. Circumventing the Vatican’s strict photography rules, he acquired images that were licensed by Bridgeman, which splits royalties with the Vatican.

Biallas initially got some elaborate warning letters, hand-stamped and sent through snail mail, from the Vatican, he said. “They weren’t too happy, but now the Church is embracing it.”

His company, Special Entertainment Events, also has produced touring shows based on “The Titanic,” “Star Wars,” King Tut and Frida Kahlo. By comparison, a Michelangelo exhibit is no blockbuster, he said. But it’s been successful enough to justify three touring units — one in the U.S., one in Europe and one in China.

The non-profit organization Brilliant Lectures, which has an educational mission, brought the show to Houston.

The reproductions have a nice setting, hanging between the beautiful marble columns of the Corinthian. Visitors can take an audio-guide tour that lasts an hour and a half, or just read the labels in front of each piece, which explain the stories of the Biblical characters depicted.

Jennifer Triplett, the home educators’ art teacher, said the first thing her students paint is “The Creation of Adam,” on the undersides of their desks — so they understand the challenges Michelangelo and his crew faced.

She was thrilled to be able to give them a view of the frescoes in a setting far more dynamic than the pages of a book. “When you can’t bring your class to Rome, you bring Rome to your class,” she said. “But this is really better than a trip to Rome.”

Molly Glentzer, a staff arts critic since 1998, writes mostly about dance and visual arts but can go anywhere a good story leads. Through covering public art in parks, she developed a beat focused on Houston's emergence as one of the nation's leading "green renaissance" cities.

During about 30 years as a journalist Molly has also written for periodicals, including Texas Monthly, Saveur, Food & Wine, Dance Magazine and Dance International. She collaborated with her husband, photographer Don Glentzer, to create "Pink Ladies & Crimson Gents: Portraits and Legends of 50 Roses" (2008, Clarkson Potter), a book about the human culture behind rose horticulture. This explains the occasional gardening story byline and her broken fingernails.

A Texas native, Molly grew up in Houston and has lived not too far away in the bucolic town of Brenham since 2012.